Going to Africa for oil? while Iran and Syria are focused on, lookie over

[caligirl]

Critics say Saharan plan backs despots, is magnet for trouble

Jason Motlagh, Chronicle Foreign Service

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Abidjan, Ivory Coast -- The U.S. government will spend $500 million over five years on an expanded program to secure a vast new front in its global war on terrorism -- the Sahara Desert.

But critics say the region is not a terrorist zone, as some senior U.S. military officers assert, and they warn that a heavy-handed military and social campaign that reinforces authoritarian regimes in North and West Africa could fuel radicalism where it scarcely exists.

The Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative began operations in June to provide military expertise, equipment and development aid to nine Saharan countries where lawless swaths of desert are considered fertile ground for militant Muslim groups involved in smuggling and combat training.

"It's the Wild West all over again," said Maj. Holly Silkman, a public affairs officer at U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, which presides over U.S. security and peacekeeping operations in Europe, former Soviet bloc countries and most of Africa. Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia take part in the initiative.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/27/MNGISGDLR91.DTL


I did not see anything on the ususal news about this. Looks like the oil in Africa is the target?